Heuer Camaro

The air, thick with the smell of burnt oil and car exhaust, crackled with intensity. Two days of torrential rain had caused the race officials to reschedule pole day. Now, twenty-three days later, the skies were clear, and the time trials roared to a start. At turn four, a car collided with the wall. Flames burst forth from the cockpit. First responders—including the pace car, a Chevy Camaro—rushed to the aid of the man trapped inside. After a few tense moments, he emerged—singed, but alive. Fast-forward to race day: May 30, 1969. The driver would return to the grid… in a back-up car. From his position in the middle of the front row, he led for the first five laps. But the turbocharged Ford he piloted had one great weakness: overheating. He was faced with the choice of pushing the car to the absolute limit—and risk losing the car, or his life, in the process—or playing it safe, he eased up on the gas. A Coyote piloted by A.J. Foyt pulled into the lead. But Foyt didn’t stay there for long. In lap 99, Foyt pulled into the pit lane with a split manifold. He would stay there for twenty minutes. In lap 105, the new leader—Lloyd Ruby—pulled into the pit for a refuel. But Ruby pulled away too early, while the hose was still attached. The fuel tank ruptured, and started weeping fuel onto the track. Ruby was out, and our hero—Mario Andretti—pulled into the lead. Despite a slipping clutch and the constant risk of overheating, Andretti outpaced his competition by a full lap. In his final 110 laps he was met by nothing but green lights. In victory lane, the owner of his team, Andy Granatelli, kissed him on the cheek. A smiling Andretti, accompanied by his wife Dee Ann and Andy Granatelli, rode in the same Camaro that had come to his aid a few days before. Although Andretti wore many watches throughout his career, his main love was for Heuer, who released a Camaro of a different kind the year before his legendary win at the Indy 500. In many ways, the Heuer Camaro was a counterpart to its automative namesake. With the Chevy Camaro’s muscular build, Chevy subverted the design of the pony cars popularized by Ford, Chevy’s chief rival. In building the Heuer Camaro, Heuer took the slim case of the Carrera and beefed it up, turning it into a square cushion case that subtly foreshadowed the Monaco. The watch’s unusual looks destined it for a short production run, but a new appreciation for unusual manually-wound vintage chronographs has brought forth a resurgence in popularity. This particular Camaro, powered by a Valjoux 7730 manually-wound drivetrain, boasts a chocolate dial with sword hands and beautiful patina on the lume. Another interesting feature is the presence of drilled lugs, clearly a cosmetic choice made by a previous owner, but nevertheless adds to the sporting aspect of the watch. An under-sung hero among chronographs, this Camaro is, like Andretti, a winner in our eyes.